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LAWYER(S) MENTIONED

Toronto, February 8, 2005 – Legal Media Group’s 2004 Guide to the World’s Leading Structured Finance/ Securitization Lawyers features four partners from McCarthy Tétrault among the world’s top lawyers in securitization and structured finance. Garth Girvan, Marc MacMullin, Gordon Thompson and Henry Wiercinski are among the elite featured, which is based on more than 2,500 surveys of legal specialists in 52 jurisdictions.

"We are very pleased to see that these four partners have been recognized in this influential guide," said McCarthy Tétrault Chair and Chief Executive Officer W. Iain Scott. "Each of them has an established reputation among the very best Canadian lawyers for structured finance and securitization law."

Lee Harrison, the guide’s Project Manager said, "Since 1999, McCarthy Tétrault has received more individual nominations than any other Canadian law firm, which attests to the firm’s international recognition in this area."

TheGuide to the World’s Leading Structured Finance/Securitization Lawyersis recognized among the world’s top multinationals as an authoritative reference. One of the distinctions of the Expert Guides seriesis that nominations are valid only when received from outside the nominee’s firm. Once nominations have been screened for bias, Legal Media Group conducts in-depth interviews with nominees over a period of several months.

McCarthy Tétrault has worked on some of the most innovative and high-profile structured finance and securitization deals in Canada. In fact, both the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and the Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada consistently rank the firm among the most frequently recommended asset securitization practices in the country. The firm’s lawyers also recently received recognition for their achievements in the International Who’s Who of Securitization Lawyers.

With offices in all major Canadian financial centres as well as New York and London, McCarthy Tétrault advises on many of the largest transactions and cases around the world. Authoritative legal directories such as the International Financial Law Review and Lexpert’s Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada consistently rank McCarthy Tétrault among the world’s top law firms. The most recent edition of Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers describes McCarthy Tétrault as "clearly a leader" with "an enviable position in the marketplace." With close to 800 lawyers representing a broad spectrum of practice areas, it’s easy to see why McCarthy Tétrault is Canada’s premier law firm.

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